Charisma casting call!
Dancer Evaluations
June 2, 2012, 12:30 to 4 p.m.
Valiants’ Gym

Coach Jessica, Coach Megan and the State Champion Charisma dancers
invite you to join them for Season 2012-2013
as we go for a fourth consecutive State Championship.
We look forward to meeting you!

About Dancer Evaluations: The award-winning Valley Catholic Charisma dance team is currently looking for new and returning members to form Team 2012-2013. Previous formal dance training is not required for membership. If you are “coachable,” committed, and willing to work hard at practice sessions and on your own, you can become a member of the Charisma. Our dance evaluation process is low-key—we want an opportunity to meet you, give you an opportunity to meet us and to get a feel for what dance team is like. The Dancer Evaluations are just that—evaluations of individual dance skill levels.  We need this information so we can place dancers in appropriate classes at dance camp (should they attend), and we need to have an idea of everyone’s skill level so we can start designing our dance routines for next season.

Eighth-graders who will be incoming freshman and all Valley Catholic high school students are welcome to participate. Team size is only limited by participation numbers. We have many open spots available—one of them can be yours! We look forward to seeing you at our Dancer Evaluations on June 2, 2012, 12:30 to 4 p.m. in the Valiants’ Gym.

Sign Up for Dancer Evaluations: Please email Coach Jessica or contact her via her Facebook page to let her know of your interest. Information packets are available at the school office, or can be sent to you via email. Information is also available on the Charisma Facebook page.

About the Charisma: While we do perform at football and basketball games and promote school spirit, we are not cheerleaders or a rally squad. We are a two-season sport that competes during fall and winter terms. The three-time defending State Champion Charisma Dance Team is a competitive athletic team that participates in sanctioned state-wide competitions leading up to the OSAA State Dance/Drill championships in March.  The Charisma dancers have earned three consecutive 3A/2A/1A State Championships: 2010, 2011, and 2012. We have placed in the top two at State for the last five years.

To receive the most up to-date Charisma news, “like” The Valley Catholic Charisma Dance Team on Facebook.

Thunderbird Dance Camp July 10-13: The Charisma dance team is attending Thunderbird Dance Camp July 10-13, 2012 at the University of Portland. If you are considering joining the Charisma, dance camp is a very good place to start. You will learn basic skills, some fun dance routines, try drill down, and get a feel for what dance team is all about. Thunderbird offers classes for all skill levels and a fun camp experience. For more information, check out the Thunderbird Dance Camp website. Please email Coach Jessica as soon as possible if you are interested in attending camp as we need to provide a preliminary head count.

Missed the Spring Evaluations?  Can’t Go to Camp? Don’t worry if you miss out on our spring dancer evaluations, or if you can’t make it to camp. There will be another opportunity to join us in the fall. If you participate in another fall sport, you can still join the Charisma after your fall sport or activity completes. If this is your situation, please discuss this with the coaches in advance.

Talk to us! Please don’t be afraid to ask questions. We want you to understand what being a member of the Charisma means. We want you to be informed. We want you to understand the commitments. We want you to enjoy your dance team experience!

How to Contact Us:
Email Coach Jessica
Visit Coach Jessica’s Facebook Page
Visit and “like” the Charisma Facebook Page

Last week I wrote about Teacher Appreciation Week on our campus and what a great opportunity it presented to thank the wonderful faculty and staff at our school. This week I would like to shine the light on another very deserving group on our campus: our parents.

Valley Catholic School would not be where we are today without the support of our parent community. Parents on this campus rise to the occasion in so many ways that it is difficult to name all of them. However, here is just a sampling from the past week of parents in action on our campus that I observed:

• In walking through the Elementary and Middle School this week, I saw many parents reading to our Elementary School students in small groups.
• I heard from some of our parents this week about this Saturday’s International Festival. This community event will be made possible by the hard work of many parents who are helping spread cultural awareness to our school community by making traditional foods and sharing traditional customs.
• I spoke to parents from various school levels on campus who are actively involved in VALOR Parent Group activities, including helping plan for end-of-the-year activities.
• And, as always, I see many parents on campus each day attending athletic contests, drama productions, music concerts and more to show support for their students and other students in our school.

These examples are just from this week, but they represent a typical level of commitment by our parent community. Our parents have invested in the future of their children by choosing Valley Catholic and those same parents are investing in Valley Catholic through all of their actions of support.

One big area of support that we receive from our parents is their willingness to participate in the various fundraisers that we have each year. Whether it is the ES Jog-A-Thon, the annual Gap pledges or our biggest annual fundraiser, the auction, many of our parents come out and support our fundraising efforts in a variety of ways. I am grateful for the support of those who have been able to participate in these activities in the past and hopeful that all of our parents are able to participate going forward.

Several folks have asked me in the past few weeks, “How did the auction go?” We are wrapping up this year’s auction as the final bills are coming through and the results are being tabulated. Overall, there are a lot of positives to take away from the event. We were pleased to have more than 365 guests attend the auction this year, and we believe that there were quite a few positives in moving the event offsite to the Embassy Suites. Having said that, we also discovered some drawbacks, and further evaluation will have to be done before a decision is made about the location of next year’s event. As far as the numbers go, we were blessed with the results in the area of “Light a Fire,” which raised more money for financial aid this year than it has in the past few years. At the same time, some of our other results were lower, such as the raffle and the silent auction. Overall, the revenue for the entire event was not at the level of some of the previous years, but we took many positives away from the event that continues to be our biggest annual fundraiser. I am pleased that more than 100 people have taken time to share their thoughts on the event by completing the recent online survey. I plan on working with our Foundation to review the results of that survey and to strategize how we can make next year’s event even better. I want to publicly thank our auction staff and all of the parents, teachers, students, and friends of our community who came together to put on such a special event.

I wanted to let our community know about one of our families that is facing a difficult situation.  Rudy Oakes, father of Valley Catholic freshman Brian Oakes, recently had surgery for lung cancer. Please keep the Oakes family in your prayers.  For more information, click here.

It looks like another Valley Catholic weekend full of great opportunities to take part in community events. Saturday’s International Festival is sure to be a great event, and Sunday brings about two more activities with the Mother-Son Bowling for the ES and the retirement open house to honor Sr. Juliana Monti for her 40+ years of service to music on our campus. If that is not enough, there are HS athletes participating in the State Track Meet and Tennis Championships as well.

Enjoy this beautiful weather and your weekend.

Respectfully,

Bob Weber
President
Valley Catholic School

On Wednesday, May 16, students from the Elementary School celebrated Mary in the annual May Crowning. This ritual has been practiced at our school since 1903—that’s 109 years!

May Crowning is a special and traditional ceremony in which we honor Mary, Our Blessed Mother, the patron of Valley Catholic School and the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon. We listen and pray the Scriptures, pray a decade of the Rosary, sing hymns to Mary, and crown Mary with flowers in this special ceremony.

One student, either boy or girl, is chosen from each of the homeroom classes–Kindergarten through fifth grade–to represent their class in the May Crowning Court.

Some teachers choose the student, others let the class vote. Students who are chosen are models and witnesses of the faith, values, virtues, and philosophy of Valley Catholic School.

One student, either a boy or girl, from the combined fifth-grade classes is voted by the students to be May Crowner, who has the honor of “crowning” Mary with a flowered wreath.

May Crowning Court 2012

Having trouble viewing the slideshow? Click here?

Photo from Catholic Heart Workcamp

Submitted by Mary Kiefer and Liz Kiefer ’11

Valley Catholic School is the proud host of this summer’s Catholic Heart Workcamp (CHWC), to be held July 8-14, 2012. Students as young as entering ninth grade in the fall up through young adults are encouraged to consider this unique opportunity to have a “mission trip” experience in the U.S. while also growing in their Catholic faith. While the camp is very much Catholic-based, youth do not have to be Catholic to participate.

Catholic Heart Workcamp is celebrating its 20th year and its third at Valley Catholic. This year over 13,000 youth will be participating in one of 26 camps being offered across the country and in Jamaica. The Catholic Heart Workcamp’s mission is twofold: First, to share the love of Jesus and serve the neglected, brokenhearted and marginalized in any way needed by revitalizing communities and beautifying homes for the elderly, disabled and those who cannot afford needed repairs. Their goal is to inspire participants to serve in their local communities. Second, to empower participants to live as disciples of Christ through serving others and to foster the spiritual growth of each participant through the sacraments, Catholic faith sharing and prayer.

Although the registration deadlines have passed, CHWC is still offering the Portland camp (that is us) at the initial rate with no late fees. The fee of $315 covers food, lodging, a work site, and program activities from Sunday through Thursday. On Friday, the group will go on a fun free-day activity. They will need spending money for that free day. The students will be sleeping on the classroom floors and eating meals in the cafeteria.

The CHWC website contains a lot of good information, as well as registration information. Applications should be turned in to Mary Donovan or Sr. Alison Green. Valley Catholic students will be registering under the group name Archdiocese of Portland. Chaperones need to pay their own way to attend.

For more information, please email Mary Kiefer or call her at 503-324-9366.

Locks of Love is a nonprofit organization formed in 1997 that provides wigs to children across the country who suffer from long-term medical hair loss. This hair loss can be a result of many things, from radiation therapy to an chronic, incurable condition in which a patient loses their hair for no known reason. At a cost of least $3,000, wigs are unobtainable for many children.

Thanks to Locks of Love and the support of people like you, over 2,000 children have received the custom fitted hairpieces they need free of charge.

In the past 11 years, Valley Catholic students and adults have donated over 4,000 inches of hair and close to $9,000 to Locks of Love.

Thank you to the Jazz Band for providing music during the event last Friday, a special thanks to all of the participants who donated hair or had their heads shaved. All who took part in this event have impacted the lives of children across the country.

This year we were able to give 230 inches of hair and almost $800 to Locks of Love! (These numbers are in addition to the above numbers.)

Thank you, Valley Catholic Community!

Having a trouble viewing the slideshow? Click here.

Congratulations to the team and coach Peter Morgan on a season very few could have expected from such a young program.

It’s been a terrific spring for all Valiant teams. Below is a brief overview of the season. More details can be found within the spring sports area of our website under each individual sport. Here’s where we stand:

GOLF
Our golf teams finished their seasons yesterday. The boys–Greg Ong, Mitchell DeSantis, Jacob Kachmarek, John Woodruff, and Ryan Schmidlin–qualified as a team for the State Tournament at Quail Valley. This was the first State Tournament for all our golfers except Greg, who was playing in his fourth. He shot two fine rounds of 76 and 78 and finished 4th among individuals.

Lindsie LaBonte qualified as an individual, shot an 84 in the first round (at Eagle Crest), which put her in 11th place after the first day, and came back with a 78, her lowest round of the year, to finish 7th as an individual.

Congratulations to all our golfers and to coach Aaron Harris on one of the best golf seasons in school history.

TENNIS
In tennis Kaitlyn Lomartire, who two years ago won the State Championship, and Connor Picken have qualified for this weekend’s State Tournament at the University of Oregon.

BASEBALL
Our baseball team plays Warrenton at Valley Catholic tomorrow for a State berth. If we win the first game we’re in; a second game will not be played. If we lose, we play again for the berth.

SOFTBALL
The softball team yesterday beat Corbett 8-5 in a loser-out game and plays Ranier tomorrow in a loser-out, winner-to-State game.

TRACK
Our boys’ track team just won their first District Championship in school history. The girls also ran well, finishing a close 2nd after five consecutive District Championships. We will send fifteen athletes to the State Meet at Western Oregon University this Friday and Saturday.

Here are our qualifiers (athletes must place 1st or 2nd to qualify on place; they may also qualify if they meet automatic standards; asterisks denote District Champions):

Girls:
• Claire McLoughlin-100 meters, 4×100 relay
• Mikaela Bernards-100 meters *, 200 meters *, 4×100 relay, 4×400 relay
• Mckenzee Cleveland-400 meters *, 800 meters, 4×100 relay, 4×400 relay
• Maddie Bernard-100 hurdles, 4×100 relay, long jump
• Rachel Feldhaus-pole vault *
• Addie Flemmer-4×400 relay
• Meg Rapp-4×400 relay

Boys:
• Josh Cole-400 meters, 4×400 relay *
• Anthony Alfieri-800 meters
• Andy Holstrom-1500 meters, 3000 meters, 4×400 meters *
• Connor Garcia-1500 meters, 3000 meters, 4×400 relay *
• Cooper Roach-1500 meters, 3000 meters, 4×400 relay *
• Aidan McLeod-4×400 relay *
• Dylan LeMay-110 hurdles, triple jump
• Reachana Chan-pole vault *

LACROSSE
Our lacrosse team ended their most successful season with a pair of fine wins over Central Catholic JV’s (5-0) and Southridge JV’s (4-1). The Southridge win demonstrated how much we improved-they’d clobbered us early in the season. Congratulations to the team and coach Peter Morgan on a season very few could have expected from such a young program.

A LITTLE MORE ATHLETIC NEWS
We’re thrilled to have hired Miguel Guante as our boys’ soccer coach. Miguel was Arizona State High School Player of the Year and a perennial All West Coast Conference midfielder at the University of Portland; he played for the Puerto Rican National Team and the American National U-17 and U-18 teams; he was selected after his junior year at UP in the first round (8th overall ) of the 2006 MLS Supplemental Draft by FC Dallas and then played for the Portland Timbers. Miguel holds a B.A. in Spanish from UP.

All head-coaching positions for next year are now filled except volleyball’s. We hope to make a volleyball announcement in the next few days.

The Dairy Farmers of Oregon Academic All Stars for spring athletics and activities were announced recently; Valley Catholic students shined across the board. Each Valley Catholic program that qualifies for the Dairy Farmers Awards earned at least a 3.0 grade-point average for their program. All teams that earn a 3.0 GPA or higher are awarded 25 points for their school in The Oregonian Cup standings. Through the completion of the winter season, Valley Catholic was in first place for this year’s Oregonian Cup standings for all 3A schools in the state.

Valley Catholic had team GPA’s above 3.0 for the following groups: Baseball, Softball, Boys and Girls Golf, Boys and Girls Tennis, Boys and Girls Track, Band, Choir, and Orchestra. The groups listed in bold were among the top GPA’s for any 3A school in their activity.

As we announced a few weeks ago, Joel Sobotka has been hired as the new AD and boys’ basketball coach. Joel was on campus last week to be introduced to some of our students and staff. He will begin work on campus June 1. Jeff Gallagher has completed his work at Valley Catholic and is pursuing other opportunities. Kelly Alfieri will be handling the AD duties during this transition period.

Congratulations to the following athletic teams and music programs for making the top-10 list for the
Dairy Farmers Academic All-State Spring Awards in Oregon this spring:

Girls’ Golf – 2nd place
Girls’ Tennis – 6th place
Girls’ Track – 8th place

Band – 2nd place
Orchestra – 2nd place
Choir – 4th place

This program, sponsored by the Dairy Farmers of Oregon, recognizes outstanding achievement in the classroom. The boys and girls team in each OSAA-sanctioned activity with the highest team grade point average (GPA) earns the Academic All-State Award. Each member of a winning team receives a much-coveted “got milk?” sweatshirt, commemorative pin and a certificate. The school receives a plaque in honor of its team. Members of top-10 schools in each activity at each classification are also recognized with a commemorative pin by the Dairy Farmers of Oregon and the OSAA.

Submitted by VCS CYO Director Kelly Alfieri

The Roadrunner Championship Meet was this past weekend at Liberty High School. Congratulations to the 25 third and fourth graders from our Valley Catholic CYO track team who competed in this championship meet. There were over 550 athletes entered from 22 CYO teams in the Portland area.

Congratulations to Andy Alfieri, Valley’s one meet champion!  He won the shot put with a team and personal record throw of 26-8.5″.
Click here for full meet results.

Below are the top individual and relay results for our athletes competing in the meet.

Relays
60m Shuttle Relay: 7th place (Arnav Chawla, Joe Ierardi, Andrew Jeong, Galen Dunlap)
4 x 100m Relay: 6th place (Sebastian Hughel, Connor Bly, Brad Elmgren, Andy Alfieri)

3rd Graders
Olivia Silenzi: 1500m (Ninth), 800m (15th)
Connor Bly: Long Jump (11th), Relay (Sixth)
Bayard Whitcraft: Shot Put (10th)

4th Graders
Andy Alfieri: Shot Put (First), 200m (Second), 100m (Fourth) Relay (Sixth)
Sebastian Hughel: 1500m (12th), Relay (Sixth)
Brad Elmgren: 800m (16th), Relay (Sixth)

Andy Alfieri won first place for shot put.

Penny Wisener, mother of Valley Catholic students, is working to find host families for many of our visiting students. She is the VCHS Student Liaison for the American Education and Exchange Association (AEEA), and she helps with the International Students (students that will actually stay at Valley to graduate, not just come for a year). AEEA pays families a monthly stipend to help cover costs and provides medical insurance, plus Penny is on campus to meet with the students and to assist when needed.

If you are interested in hosting a student, or just finding out more about the process, please email Penny or call her at 503-524-4953. Thank you!

On Monday, May 14, the seventh-graders had a busy and eventful field trip.

First, we headed down to Lincoln City. Although we left sunny Beaverton, the students quickly learned about the difference in weather at the Oregon coast as we stepped out onto a windy and slightly chilly beach. The day started out with a beach clean-up and multiple team building activities. All the students enjoyed the team builders and were shocked by the amount of trash and junk people leave on the beaches. One group even found a stove top dumped on the beach.

We left Lincoln City a little cleaner and headed to Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville. There the students saw the Spruce Goose and went on a History of Flight tour. The aviation museum marks the start of a science unit on aviation, energy, power and rockets!

Last Friday night May 11, the Student Activities Board planned a middle school dance. The spring dance called “Spring into Summer” was a huge success. All the students enjoyed spending time with their friends and just having a great time. It was great to see all the students dance moves throughout the night. Valley Catholic Middle School students can really dance!

Our golf teams finished their seasons yesterday.

The boys—Greg Ong, Mitchell DeSantis, Jacob Kachmarek, John Woodruff, and Ryan Schmidlin—qualified as a team for the State Tournament at Quail Valley. This was the first State Tournament for all our golfers except Greg, who was playing in his fourth. He shot two fine rounds of 76 and 78 and finished fourth among individuals.

Lindsie LaBonte qualified as an individual, shot an 84 in the first round (at Eagle Crest), which put her in 11th place after the first day, and came back with a 78, her lowest round of the year, to finish seventh as an individual.

Congratulations to all our golfers and to Coach Aaron Harris on one of the best golf seasons in school history.

Submitted by VCHS Principal Ross Thomas and Track and Field Coach Tommy Manning

Congratulations to our boys’ track team, who just won the first District Championship in school history. The girls also ran well, finishing a close second after five consecutive District Championships. We will send 15 athletes to the State Meet at Western Oregon University this Friday and Saturday—a record number for Valley to send to the State meet!

Also, congratulations to our boys’ 4×400 relay team for setting a new school record. Aidan McLeod, Cooper Roach, Andy Holstrom, and Josh Cole teamed up to run a time of 3:30.95. That time takes them to the top of the list among all 4×4 teams in VC history and puts them in the top three in the state right now.

Here are our qualifiers (athletes must place first or second to qualify on place; they may also qualify if they meet automatic standards; asterisks denote District Champions):

Girls:

• Claire McLoughlin (junior): 100 meters, 4×100 relay
• Mikaela Bernards (sophomore): 100 meters*, 200 meters*, 4×100 relay, 4×400 relay
• Mckenzee Cleveland (sophomore): 400 meters*, 800 meters, 4×100 relay, 4×400 relay
• Maddie Bernards (senior): 100 hurdles, 4×100 relay, long jump
• Rachel Feldhaus (senior): pole vault*
• Addie Flemmer (sophomore): 4×400 relay
• Meg Rapp (junior): 4×400 relay

Boys:

• Josh Cole (sophomore): 400 meters, 4×400 relay*
• Anthony Alfieri (senior): 800 meters
• Andy Holstrom (senior): 1500 meters, 3000 meters, 4×400 meters*
• Connor Garcia (senior): 1500 meters, 3000 meters, 4×400 relay*
• Cooper Roach (sophomore): 1500 meters, 3000 meters, 4×400 relay*
• Aidan McLeod (senior): 4×400 relay*
• Dylan LeMay (senior): 110 hurdles, triple jump
• Reachana Chan (senior) pole vault*

*District Champions

Full results from the district meet can be found here.

Submitted by VCS Parent Analizza Lambino

It’s this Saturday, May 19!
Didn’t RSVP?  That’s okay—come anyway!

VCS International Festival
Saturday, May 19, 2-5:30 p.m.
Eagles’ Gym and High School Cafeteria
There is no charge to attend this event!

Festival Schedule:

Many countries/regions will be represented in tabletop presentations and/or performances by our campus community: China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Mexico, Philippines, Singapore, Slovakia, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.

Reports on various cultures by middle school students in Sr. Denise’s Music Appreciation Class will also be featured in the tabletop presentations. In addition, a few middle school students will report on France, Italy, and Scotland during the cultural presentations.

Plus, the SSMO Sisters will be representing the “Culture of Religious Life.”

The potluck will showcase delicious cuisine from the different cultures, but should your child have a limited palate, some pizza will also be offered. Prizes will be raffled off to students who “travel” to many countries during the event.

Check us out on Facebook! We look forward to seeing lots of pictures and posts about the festival on our page. Thanks to Garima Gautam for setting this up. Contact Garima if you have questions or suggestions about our Facebook page.

The following communities and their Chairs/Leads are currently working hard to make this another memorable event for us:

Thank you for your participation in celebrating diversity with us!

Please keep in mind that the round-about at the corner of 148^th Avenue & St. Mary’s Drive is for drop-and-go traffic only. Quite a few families have begun using it as a staging area to make telephone calls after dropping off students, and this restricts the flow of traffic in and out of that space. If you’d like to park and make phone calls in the morning, the high school lot near the Eagles’ gym and the gravel lot near the track are great places to do this.

As always, please take care in driving on campus. Keep speeds low and eyes on the road. We want to ensure that our students are safe as they come and go to and from school.

On Friday, as we recognize VC alum Mariel Zagunis ’03, who will once again compete in the Olympics this summer, we will have special red, white, and blue dress. This special non–uniform dress means that at least one of the visible clothing items (tops, pants, jacket) are red, white, or blue, or the top has an American flag design (a black shirt with a flag is acceptable).

Please keep in mind that the spirit of the day is to dress in red, white, and blue. Clothing need not be 100 percent red, white, and blue, but a strong attempt at making at least half the clothing in these colors is expected.

Do you remember when your family first came to Valley Catholic?  You were new, maybe felt uncomfortable, didn’t know anyone, didn’t know who to ask about uniforms or parking. I remember, and I also remember the first time someone asked if they could help me!  I was so relieved!  It made things so much easier for me and my family. Well, we would like to make it easy for the newest members of our school community too.

We are looking for ES families that would be interested in being a “Mentor Family”.  Your job (should you choose to accept this mission…) is to simply be available for and welcome new families.  I’m sure they would appreciate our community reaching out to them and offering assistance.

For more information, please contact the VCES VALOR Network with your name, current email address, and phone number.  As we get the names of the new families, we will match you up with a family whose children are closest in age to your children.  That’s it!  Then you will contact them, offer assistance, answer questions, etc.  If you do not know an answer, just contact us and we can get you the right answer!

This is a great opportunity to meet and make new friends! Contact us at diggier@frontier.com or jmsenecal@mac.com.

All VCES boys are invited to attend Cub Scout Pack 136′s Annual Bike Rodeo on Wednesday, May 23, at 6:45 pm in the VCES Parking Lot. Learn about bike safety and Cub Scouts, too! Bring your bike or scooter and bike helmet. Beaverton Police officers will be on hand to discuss bike safety. Siblings are welcome. Pack leaders will be available to answer any questions you may have about joining Cub Scouts. If you have any questions, please contact Cub Master Patrick Caraher at thatguy09@frontier.com or Committee Chair Jeanelle Lindsey at jlindsey03@comcast.net.

VC Youth Orchestra will meet next week on Monday and Wednesday (May 21^st & 23^rd) after school regular time.  There will be no Orchestra Wednesday, May 30^th.  The last day of orchestra will be June 4^th.

It was wonderful to see so many of you in attendance at our first-ever Invention Convention on Friday night. Those of you able to attend witnessed an excellent display of the student creativity present at our school. Special thanks to science specialist Sarah Zinzer, in her first year working at Valley Catholic, who was the brain behind the whole invention process and helped guide our students on the invention-creation journey. We are so appreciative of Sarah’s contributions to our school! Thank you to all of you as well. Many of you played significant roles in the guidance of students and in the development of project ideas. Parent support and involvement in each child’s education is so very important!

Many of you also took advantage of Wednesday’s beautiful weather to join us for one of our Elementary School traditions – the May Crowning. For the first time in a very long time, we held the annual ceremony outside at the Grotto just outside the Convent and old Elementary School building. Sr. Denise did a terrific job preparing students for the crowning, and having the event outside at the Grotto worked just perfectly. We thank you for your attendance at all of our Masses and prayer services, and especially the crowning event this week.

A day off for students this Monday allowed us to make significant progress in our accreditation self study. We are in the final stretch of the first part of the accreditation process, and our work so far has yielded positive results. As I have mentioned before, the process also allows us to look at the feedback we have received and to think about making improvements to the education program we offer. We look forward to setting goals and making plans in the second major phase of the accreditation self study to begin next school year.

Please consider joining us this weekend for a variety of events and activities. On Saturday, we have the International Festival in the Eagles’ Gym, and on Sunday, a retirement celebration for Sr. Juliana Monti will be held in the school cafeteria and our Mother-Son Bowling event will take place at Sunset Lanes.

In Christ’s peace,

Joe Manning
Principal

THE WEEK AHEAD:

Saturday
International Festival – Eagles’ Gym & HS Cafeteria – 2 pm

Sunday
Mother-Son Bowling – Sunset Lanes – 1:30 pm
Retirement Party for Sr. Juliana Monti – Cafeteria – 2 pm

Monday
K-2 MAP Testing
Recess Supervisors: MaryBeth Wolfe & Peter James

Tuesday
VCES VALOR Network Meeting – Cafeteria – 6:45 pm
Early Dismissal – 2:05 pm
Recess Supervisors: Natalia Gurzhiy & Loc Nguyen

Wednesday
Prayer Service (1F) – Eagles’ Gym – 9:35 am
Recess Supervisors: Laura Kuhner & Ken Mann

Thursday
Fifth-Grade Field Trip
Recess Supervisors: Laura Schultz & Loc Nguyen

Friday
Assembly to Recognize Mariel Zagunis – Valiants’ Gym – 1:15 pm
Special Dress – Red, White, and Blue – All students will wear items that are red, white, and blue to show support for VC Alum Mariel Zagunis who will compete again in the Olympics this summer.
Recess Supervisors: Valerie Stecher & James Noll

Ong, competing in the OSAA Class 3A/2A/1A Boys State tournament for the fourth consecutive year, carded a 78 at Quail Valley Golf Course in Banks.  His two-day total of 154 (+10 for the tournament) earned him a tie for fourth place in the individual competition.  Meanwhile, LaBonte, competing as the lone Valley Catholic representative in the OSAA 4A/3A/2A/1A Girls State Tournament at Eagle Crest Resort in Central Oregon, improved from her Monday score of 84 to post a 78 in Tuesday’s final round.  Her two-day total of 162 was good enough for a 7th place overall individual finish.

The Valley Catholic boys team placed 10th overall by shooting a combined 372 in the final round and a two-day team total of 752.   The 2nd round scores for the Valiants included Ryan Schmidlin (87), Jacob Kachmarek (111), John Woodruff (106)  and Mitchel DeSantis (101).   St. Mary’s (Medford) won the team title with two-day total of 631.

Ong took advantage on the longer holes Tuesday, recording a birdie on three of the four Par-5 holes on the course.  During his four years at Valley, Ong has finished T-41 (2009), T-8 (2010), T-12 (2011).  Kevin Murphy of Rogue River claimed the 2012 Individual Title with a two-day total of 141.

LaBonte put the rest of the state on notice that she will be a factor in the next two years with her strong showing to conclude her sophomore year.  Last year, competing as an individual, she tied for 26th place with rounds of 95-93 for a two-day total of 188.  This year’s two-day total of 162 demonstrates the marked improvement in her overall game.  Her round on Tuesday started slow with a double bogey 6 on the opening hole.  However, Lindsie quickly rebounded with a birdie on the second hole and played steady golf the rest of the way.  Freshman Kaitlin Collum of Henley was the Girls Individual Champion with a two-day total of 144.  Kaitlin’s twin sister Kylie finished in fourth place.  Molalla won the 4A/3A/2A/1A team title with a two-day total of 720.

The Valiant boys team sits in 10th place overall after the first round with a team score of 380. Freshman Ryan Schmidlin shot an 86 on Monday, which included two birdies. The other Valiants in action included sophomore Jacob Kachmarek (108), freshman John Woodruff (112) and senior Mitchel Desantis (110). Tomorrow in the final round, the Valiants will tee off just after Noon at Quail Valley as they attempt to move up the team standings.

In the girls 4A/3A/2A/1A State Golf Tournament at Eagle Crest Resort, sophomore Lindsie LaBonte is tied for 11th place after a first round 84. LaBonte, competing in the State Tournament for the second consecutive year, carded three birdies in her round at Eagle Ridge Golf Course at Eagle Crest Resort in Central Oregon. The lone Valley Catholic competitor in the tournament, LaBonte will look to improve her standing during tomorrow’s second round. She tees off at Eagle Ridge at 8:54 a.m. on Tuesday.

2012 VCHS Girls’ Tennis Team. Back row, left to right: Morgan McDougal, Sophia Anderson, Tori Kemper, Coach Laura Unger, Jordan Heselwood, Momoe Seta, Tin Tin Luu. Middle row: Chelsea Ozuna, Karina Karlin, Kaitlyn Lomartire, Danielle Lomartire, Sarah Karlin, Tori Johnson. Front row: Megan Co, Momoko Mayumi, Becky Peng, Joy Lin, Allyza Concepcion, Kelli Hoang. Not pictured: Lavanya Backshi.

Submitted by VCHS Girls’ Tennis Coach Laura Unger

The VC girls’ tennis team did an excellent job in districts, getting six teams past the first round:  Kaitlyn Lomartire (junior); Tori Kemper (senior); Lavanya Bakshi; Danielle Lomartire (freshman) & Megan Co (sophomore); Jordan Heselwood & Tin Tin Luu (both freshmen); Momoe Seta (sophomore) and Sarah Karlin.

In their second match of the day, Danielle Lomartire & Megan Co played an intense match against a team from Tillamook High School. Lavanya Bakshi also played an intense match in her second round against an athlete from Riverdale that lasted well over two hours. The two that went on to playing in the third round are Tori Kemper and Kaitlyn Lomartire in singles. Kemper put up a great fight against the number four seed from Riverdale High School and Lomartire won her third round and will be representing us at the State Tournament in Eugene on May 18 and 19. After placing 2nd in districts, I believe Kaitlyn is completely ready to take on a new challenge in just a short week.